VILLISCA, one of the finest cities in the state, is situated
in the southeast corner of Montgomery County, and is one of the chief trading points for a
large part of that country, as well as for considerable portions of Adams, Taylor and Page
Counties. This very attractive city is sixteen miles from Red Oak, the county seat, and is
106 miles from St. Joseph, Mo. The census of 1910 gave the place a population of 2,039,
but it is believed to be considerable larger now. Such population figures, however, give
no adequate idea of the importance and attractiveness of the town, which is nothing if not
metropolitan in its aspect and in the way in which its citizens look upon things. Few, if
any, towns of this size are important manufacturing centers, as well as centers of retail
trade, and when one adds that Villisca is also a social and religious center as well, one
is stating something that is indeed remarkable.

There was a time, of course, when there was no Villisca where
the charming city of that name now stands, and it is likely that Indians at times set up
their nomadic dwellings in the form of a temporary village on the site of what is now the
permanent and happy abode of the pale face, who pushed them westward toward the setting
sun, as the tide of immigration advanced. Perhaps it was in those days that the site of
the future city was named, for it is said that the name chosen by Mr. D.N. Smith of
Burlington, the founder of the town, is an Indian word and means "Pleasant
View." At any rate this description could not be applied anywhere more appropriately
than to Villisca. All visitors will agree to this. The city is situated upon a gentle
slope, rising gradually, so that the town has a wide outlook, thought apparently not much
higher than the surrounding country. IT can also be seen for a long way, as it overlooks a
most fertile and populous and opulent country in the valleys of the Middle and West
Nodaway Rivers, whose confluence, by the way, is just south of town. One of the
impressions one gets as he stands in one of these marvelously fertile bottoms and looks
over at the city, sitting so majestically upon rising ground, is that perhaps it is true
that nature has deliberate intentions in these matters and that when she fashioned this
part of the earths surface she intended that Villisca, the proud and beautiful
Villisca, was in due time to occupy this site, as a fit setting for the civic activities
of its people.

Mr. Smith of Burlington has been spoken of. This particular
Smith was interested in the townsite company and was backed in his project by the
Burlington and Missouri River railroad, which was the name of the Burlington route across
Iowa in those days. There are Smiths here now, as elsewhere, but none of them is known to
be a descendant of the founder of the town, who was interested as well in other towns and
did not make his abode here, retaining his residence in Burlington, while he was selling
lots and otherwise assisting in starting the town of Villisca. The railroad , moreover,
since that time, as well as then, has had very much to do with the making of Villisca the
fine town it is. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy is a magnificent system, the main
line of which through Iowa is built like a great wall across the state, in order to reduce
the grade and make possible the sending of passenger and freight trains from one side of
the commonwealth to the other at lightening speed.

This system is without a superior in the railroad world,
either in point of rolling stock, roadbed and service to its patrons, has made Villisca a
chief junction, and all of its trains, even the most limited of limiteds, stop here. Here
the short line trains from Clarinda meet the main line. The unsurpassed train service it
is not believed that nay town of twice the size can show anything that will distantly
compare with it, has added materially to the attractions of Villisca as a residence town;
or, rather, has made it possible for many who wished to live in the town to do so. For
instance, many traveling men have their homes, here, and their families are a desirable
addition to the society of the place, active in school and church work, and ever ready to
lend a hand in any good cause. The counsel of the resident traveling man, it is everywhere
admitted, has been helpful in promoting the prosperity of the town and in carrying out of
plans for further beautification of the city. The hotels of this town are famous all over
that part of the state for the excellence of their cuisine, and they daily feed hundreds
of knights of the grip, some of them visiting Villisca trade and others only passing
through between trains.

Architecturally, Villisca strikes the stranger most
favorably, because of its dozens of fine business blocks and prosperous looking stores and
because of its paved streets and broad cement sidewalks. The beauty of the park known as
the public square is also notable and the splendid trees that provide the shade in this
resting and breathing spot for the whole people, where the children are wont to gather and
play during the summer and autumn, have been witnesses of the events of the town life
during more than a third of a century.

Most recent among the improvements are the completion of
$40,000 worth of paving, which gives an air of finish to the town. Then there is the
beautiful Carnegie Library, which cost $10,000 to erect, which is an acquisition of recent
years. The high school building cost ten thousand dollars also, and the Lincoln school,
then which there is not a finer structure of its kind in the state, cost about $16,000. In
the matter of church edifices, one finds in Villisca such buildings as one would hardly
expect to find in a place of its size. There is the Methodist Church, an imposing pile. It
cost $13,500 to build at a time when construction was cheaper than it is now. Then the
Presbyterians have a church of rare beauty and it cost $12,000. Also the Baptists with
their beautiful edifice of $12,000, all three of which have splendid pipe organs, the
tonal quality of which the musicians of southwestern Iowa much admire. These buildings
give one an idea of what a "classy" town Villisca really is and explains why
many people who might move to much larger places prefer to remain here. Investigation
reveals that the community is just as substantial as appearances would indicate.

While the city is the home of a number of flourishing
manufacturing plants and is reaching out for more by a standing offer of free sites, it
is, nevertheless, chiefly a retail market for the surrounding country in four counties..
It has fifty retail stores and some of them carry very extensive and very large stocks.
The banks of the town are as strong as the rock of Gibraltar and have deposits aggregating
nearly a million dollars. Like other towns of this part of the state, Villisca has no
saloons. It has had none for a good many years. In addition to the three churches
mentioned already, the town has the Christian, Christian Science, Catholic and Adventist
denominations, and all of the congregations are strong and numerous. This is an indication
of the state of Villiscas society and the high merits of the town as a place for
rearing children.

Towns are said to have their characters, quite as much as men
have, and observation seems to confirm the truth of this saying. Villisca might be said to
have a cheerful disposition and a wholesome, friendly way of looking at things. There is
little litigation between residents of the town and no disorder, and a large way of
regarding the affairs of the day leads to tolerance of opinion. The two newspapers, The
"Review" and the "Letter,: reflect this attitude of the community and are
molding public opinion along right lines. Both offices are admirable equipped for issuing
a newspaper and both are able to do job and book work that would do credit to plants in
the largest cities. The "Review" is republican and the "Letter" is
democratic.

In the other professions besides journalism, Villisca is well
represented. There are a number of physicians and dentists, some of whom have almost a
state-wide reputation for ability in practice. That there are more auctioneers than
lawyers may be taken as an indication of the fact that the town is more of a market for
the disposal of wares than a forum for the trial of cases.

Villisca has more than a dozen lodges and several public
societies that have helped much in the development of the city. In past years the Villisca
Improvement Association made a name for itself in the history of the town by general
beautifications of the city in general and the cemetery in particular. A fine iron fence
was put along the front of the cemetery. For many years the Ladies; Library Association,
in the days prior to the coming of the Carnegie Library, which is now a social center of
importance, kept up the public taste for good reading and exhaustive research by the
maintenance of a city library of about 1,500 volumes, which were the nucleus of the
present supply of books. These public spirited ladies also put on a lecture course. This
article would be incomplete without mention of the domiciles of these enterprising and
public spirited ladies. Villisca can well boast of her beautiful residence streets and
avenues, with their wide parkings and spreading shade trees, as well as the almost
palatial homes, a number of which cost from seven to ten thousand dollars, with the well
kept and spacious grounds surrounding same.

Villisca citizens maintain a lively interest and give in a
most substantial way to the observance of a number of festivals during each year. There
have been mid-summer carnivals that attracted thousands from the countryside and from
other cities, Old Settlers Day, which is a great event of each year, and numerous
other annual or occasional observances.

No description of Villisca could be complete without a
description also of the country surrounding the town and supporting it very largely on
account of its wealth of agricultural resources. It is said by those who have made a study
of such subjects that it is not too much to say that the country around Villisca is one of
the most productive in the world. Farm lands have been steadily advancing and sales are
recorded in which the price per acre of farms has been as high as $200 per acre. Much, in
fact most, of the land is not in the market and it is difficult to say just what the sale
price of the average acreage would be.

As to the valuation of the real estate in the city, the
assessor put it at nearly a million dollars and the personal property at more than half
that much. The assessed valuation is much lower than the real value, of course, and the
property contained within the city limits is likely to reach not less than three millions
of dollars.

Fire protection is a thing that a business man or a house
owner appreciates as much as anything else. Villisca has such protection in adequate
quantity both in strength of its volunteer fire department and its pressure of water. The
fire fighters number over sixty and turn out quickly and fight flames vigorously, whenever
there is a call. The river, one might say, can be turned into the water mains and the
pumps at the water station exert all pressure that can possibly be required in any
contingency.

The water system is a costly one for installing, but well
worth the expenditure when installed. The supply comes from wells sunk near the town and
the water obtained is noted for its softness. An admirable water system with excellent
drinking water is supplemented in the right way with a sewer system that keeps sanitary
conditions good. A franchise was voted recently for a new and up-to-date electric light
plant, which guarantees a twenty-four hour service, together with a street lighting system
of electroliers, making a "Great White Way," also ample sufficiency of power for
all purposes.

As has been said, the thing that Villisca wants and is
striving for more than anything else is factories. The people of the town realize that the
chances for reaching metropolitan proportions, or for even a large gain in population and
business lies in the acquisition of labor employing institutions that will make the town
more of a market and more of a receiving and shipping point than it is at the present
time, although it is now one of the largest in the west for its size. Fifteen acres were
purchased and set aside some years ago for free factory sites. This land is the best
obtainable for the purpose, being close to the center of the city and at the same time
handy to the tracks that would have to be used for receiving and shipping freight.

Accordingly when the traveler, passing on the trains, sees
signs blazoning forth the fact that the city of Villisca has factory sites to give away
and is anxious to donate them to all who mean business, he may be sure that the desire on
the part of the town is a genuine one and that it is inspired by a real appreciation of
what it takes to make an Iowa town, or a town anywhere else, permanently
prosperousdiversity of industries. Villisca not only wants industries of the kind
she has not now, but she desires as well to have more of the kind that she has. The
Commercial Club, which has the factory hunting campaign in charge, is working for the good
of the whole town, and the manufacturers already on the ground appreciate to the full the
fact that the coming of more institutions even in their line will make Villisca ;that much
more important as a distributor of such goods. There is no pettiness about the business
men of this town.

Just what the future of Villisca is, one can scarcely venture
to predict. Indeed who can predict the distant future of any place? Times change,
conditions change. There is this to be said with a great degree of certainty, however,
that it is the determination to keep the town in the front rank as a manufacturing center
that has made Villisca what it is, and it is only reasonable to believe that the same
determination will make of the small city a large one when [the future] arrives that this
part of the United States will be as much of a manufacturing [concern] as any other part
of it. It is to be noted that many towns of Iowa that for [a time] could not command wide
attention or reach great growth, have in recent years [been first] among the chief centers
of population and industry. This has been the case with [other small] towns and it may not
improbably be the case with Villisca, for the rise of new [prosperity] has been preceded
by a long period of effort on the part of the people of an ambitious city.

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